


Arms Unfolding

by panicked_bi_kid



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/F, Reconciliation, like a little bit, lil bit angst, pretty fluffy, song-fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 07:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicked_bi_kid/pseuds/panicked_bi_kid
Summary: Adora isn't sure when Catra disappeared. But after all this time, she finally found her.





	Arms Unfolding

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Dodie Clark's song "Arms Unfolding", mainly cuz it fits these two super well. Highly recommend you listen to that while reading this and also go listen to the rest of her music because it's all super good.

_Hope I'm not tired of rebuilding_

_’Cause this might take a little more_

Finding Catra wasn’t easy. After so long in the woods, Adora was tempted to just go back to the castle. Accept that Catra was gone for good. But she stayed. And searched. And stayed. And searched.

And finally.

A clearing.

A cabin, not unlike the one Razz lived in.

She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

**_Knock knock knock_ **

 .

_I think I'd like to try look at you_

_And feel the way I did before_

She looks almost the same. Almost. At first glance, Adora can barely tell that anything has changed. But a closer look tells her otherwise. For one, Catra’s finally traded in her Horde clothes for more Rebellion-esque attire. It’s still form fitting and tight, but it’s new. Torn because of style, not from overuse. Her hair is different now too. It’s freer, no longer tucked back behind the mask. It’s also shorter, but with a mane like Catra’s, it’s not the easiest to tell.

But the most jarring difference is her eyes. There’s a calmness in them that Adora’s never seen. This sense of peace. Like for the first time, she isn’t fighting. There is no enemy. There are still demons in her eyes, there’s no escaping them. But even the demons seem more at peace.

 .

_Oh, our fire died last winter_

_All of the shouting blew it out_

Adora remembers leaving. Clear as day, as if it happened yesterday. She remembers the betrayal on Catra’s face as she disappeared into the fog. She hates that when she fell, she had people to pick her up. Catra had no one.

 .

_You know I could live without or with you_

_But I might like having you about_

For so long, she thought she couldn’t live without Catra. Turns out, she could. And she did. She didn’t like it. Every day she spent away from Catra ate away at her soul like a wolf ravaging a carcass. Every battle, every blow, every claw mark left on her skin was a brutal reminder of what she walked away from. Of who she walked away from. Who she selfishly left behind, not taking a second to consider the other side. And she has only herself to blame for being so blind.

She can live without Catra. She can. She has. But maybe she doesn’t want to anymore. Maybe she never did.

 .

_Yes, these new walls are pretty hard to crack_

_And it might take a while until I trust you won't attack_

“Hey Adora.” Those all so familiar words are music to Adora’s ears. They’re missing that classic lilt, the flirtatious undertone of days past, but she thinks she likes this version better. Her walls are down. Both of theirs are. Her sword is a twenty-minute walk away, a small voice in Adora’s head telling her to leave the sword when she’d set off earlier. Maybe she should listen to that voice more often.

“Hi Catra.” Adora knows Catra doesn’t trust her. She can’t blame her. She has no reason to trust anyone.

“So you finally found me.”

“I did.”

“Took you longer than I thought.”

“Glimmer took some convincing.”

Catra stares at her for a moment before snorting, choking back a laugh. “I see some things haven’t changed.”

Adora glances around. “And I see a lot of things have.”

Catra shrugs and pushes the door open. “Come in. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

 .

_Oh, I’d apologize, but it was only self-defense_

_Running away just made sense_

They’re sitting at the small table that seems to be hand-carved. Adora would comment on it but neither of them are ones for small talk.

She decides to get straight to it. “Are you going to apologize?”

“For what?”

“Staying with the Horde. Trying to kill all the princesses. Nearly blowing up Mermista’s kingdom three times. Almost killing Frosta. Almost taking off Netossa’s arm. Should I go on?” Adora’s walls are up again. She’s expecting a fight. Maybe because it’s familiar. Maybe because she doesn’t know what else to say.

Catra sighs. “That depends. Will you apologize for leaving me behind?”

“I offered to let you leave.” The same old argument.

“And I see you’re just as naive as ever.” A new rebuttal.

“Excuse me?”

Catra sighs heavily, staring into the fire in front of them. Before, she would already be arguing, vicious words being thrown, poison lacing her tongue. But now… “You were naive ten years ago and you’re still naive now. I never wanted to stay with the Horde. I wanted to get out of there more than anyone.”

“Then why did you stay?”

“Because the second you finally figured out what the Horde was really doing, you were willing to cast aside everything you’d ever learned, everyone who’d ever cared for you. I don’t care that you left. I care that you left knowing full well that Shadow-Weaver was going to torture me. I care that you didn’t even take my life into account when you decided to stay with the Rebellion. I care that you chose the life of a princess and a kid who can shoot arrows who’d you’d known for all of a day, over me. I care because just like always, you put yourself ahead over everyone and everything else. And I suffered because of it.” There’s no burning rage in her voice like Adora expected. Just the smoldering embers of anger that’s clearly been resolved and is just waiting for someone to come along and stomp it out.

There’s a long beat of silence, the truth hanging heavy between them.

 .

_But here I am with arms unfolding_

_I guess it isn't quite the end_

“I’m sorry. Not for leaving. But for not realizing what you were going through. For rushing blindly into something new. For getting attached to the first shiny thing I saw outside the Fright Zone. For forcing you to deal with everything I left behind.”

Another beat of silence.

“You aren’t forgiven.”

Adora chuckles to herself. “I know.”

 .

_Old partner in crime, I'm going to try_

_To fall in love with you again_

“So, why did you really come here?”

“I realized a few things twenty years too late.”

“Like...?” The knowing glint in Catra’s eyes tells Adora that she already knows what Adora realized.

“Like why Glimmer and I were never going to work out, no matter how hard or how many times we tried.”

A slight eyebrow raise. “Is that all?”

A fierce blush covers Adora’s cheeks. “And maybe I figured out why my heart always beat like crazy whenever you would sleep next to me when we were kids.”

“I did that until the day you left.” Catra sets her cup down, laughing. “Also, wow it took you way too long to figure that out.”

“Yes, thank you for reminding me of how much of a walking disaster I am.”

They laugh together, genuinely, for the first time in over ten years. It’s a strange feeling. But as all good things do, their laughter dies and they’re back to where they started. A tense silence, neither of them sure what to say.

“So, are you going to stay?”

A beat.

And then another.

And then another.

“After all this time, how can I not?” She takes a deep breath. “And maybe, if it’s okay with you; I’d like to try again.”

“I'd like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos or a comment, this author craves validation. Or go read my other stories. Okay have a nice day.


End file.
